“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests. The son of man hath nowhere to lay his head.” I couldn’t remember if it was from Luke or John, but it looked like I’d just joined a very exclusive club. It was Matthew, and reading the rest of the chapter before I fell asleep helped me get over the feeling I had when I watched almost everything I own go up in smoke. I tried to drown the rest of my thoughts in beer; that never really works. And the alcohol in my blood didn’t make an August night in Boston any cooler. Actually I was being urban-renewed out of my office. I had to move uptown. Of course, uptown for me is still downtown for most people. My new place was at 357 Mass Avenue over a cheap cigar store and a florist specializing in day-old flowers at an office that used to belong to Madam Martino, a psychic.”
If that psychic had still been in business, I wonder if she could have predicted the life of television icon Robert Urich. He would pass away at a very young 55 years of age from an extremely rare form of cancer. But in that short time he would set the record for the most television shows by anyone as the leading actor/character.
It started with the movie-inspired comedy Bob & Carol Ted & Alice, where Urich played the title character of Bob. Then it was the original television production of S.W.A.T., where he played Officer Jim Street. Then it was off to the spin-off from Bewitched called Tabitha, where he played Paul Thurston, who had of all things a television show where Tabitha worked. He hit the real big time as Las Vegas private detective Dan Tanna in Vega$. 69 episodes later he was former CIA operative Robert Gavilan in the series Gavilan with Patrick MacNee. He capped off his career in the Civil War era television series The Lazarus Man and as the new Captain on The Love Boat: The Next Wave. But he is perhaps best known for playing yet another private detective: Spenser, that’s with an S just like the poet, whom the character claims as a distant relative. And he was available for work in Spenser For Hire.
The character of Spenser was created by Robert B. Parker in a series of novels he wrote. The novel Promised Land became the story of the pilot episode. The pilot was originally written for Joe Mantegna, but it didn’t work out, and Urich was perfect in the part. Mantegna did get to do a couple of Spenser films after Urich was unable to continue, so Parker did get his wish only 20 years later. Parker remained a part of the show as a consultant.
There were a handful of regular characters in Spenser’s world. The most important was future Deep Space Nine Commander Sisko, Avery Brooks. He played the enigmatic Hawk. If you’ve ever seen those crazy interviews of Brooks by William Shatner, you will see where it comes from here. Hawk was a morally ambiguous character. He was once a gun for hire, and in these days he decides to use his talents with a bit more conscience and usually helped pull Spenser’s fat out of the fire … literally. He spoke in short phrases and was known for his signature Spens Ah call. Unlike most P.I. shows, Spenser got along with the cops. He was once a cop himself as well as a prize fighter . Ron McLarty played Sgt. Frank Belson, who was a bit of a slob and often a little behind the learning curve. But he had a heart of gold. Richard Jaeckel played Lt. Martin, who liked Spenser but was a little more by-the-book. He left the series in Season 2. Spenser also had a love interest in Barbara Stock’s Susan. She was dropped in season two for D.A. Rita Fiore, played by future Law & Order D.A. Carolyn McCormick. But there was a fan backlash, and Susan came back in season three, and Rita was gone. I agree with the showrunners. Stock’s Susan is weak and they never share any chemistry. For some reason a lot of vocal fans were romantic, and she was brought back. The third season would be the final year; however there were a few television movies that are not included here.
In the first season Spenser’s apartment goes up in flames and he saves a young firefighter who was working to put it out. In appreciation the Boston Fire Department donated a firehouse for him to live in. It was a great set-piece, but they took it back after that first season. The show was actually shot in Boston, and part of Urich’s contract gave him time and air service back to L.A. when he was dealing with a family illness. Hawk and Spenser had great chemistry, and they formed the backbone of typical private detective shows. There are plenty of car chases and gunfights. Spenser drove a classic Ford Mustang, but there must have been clearance issues with Ford, because the name on the trunk usually had the F missing so it said ORD, or when the first letter was there it was an R. For a short time they put him in a 90’s Mustang, and those cars were horrible and before Ford was smart enough to bring back the classic design. It wasn’t long before he was back in the original-style car. Spenser’s gun is a classic Baretta 92fs, the same gun I carried as a detective once in a while. He gives his reason in the pilot when he tells a bad guy that he’s fired it so many hundreds of times without a misfire. It’s true. It is the most reliable handgun in the world for both misfires, and it never stovepipes (you can look that up, too).
A weakness on the show was that it was narrated by Spenser in a kind of old film noir style, which really distracted from the pace. His narrations were highly philosophical. Spenser was showing off that he was an educated guy, and it just never fit the show’s style the rest of the time.
The show gives us early appearances by the likes of both Samuel L. Jackson and Laurance Fishburne, but whatever you do don’t get those cats mixed up. Jackson really hates that. If you don’t get it, look up Jackson mistaken for Fishburne. It’s a hoot.
There are no extras, but you get every episode of the series. It’s a really good buy, and I rather enjoyed it more than I expected to … and I expected to enjoy it a lot. “That’s the trouble in my line of work. It’s tough not being cynical.”
